Love, Passion, and Coyotes
by Fleurdebelle
Summary: Modern Day. Christine is a bartender and performer at the rowdy Coyote Ugly in Las Vegas. Erik is the lonely, brilliant mastermind behind security operations in the city’s most massive hotel. EC, Rated M for SC,V,L


**Love, Passion, and Coyotes**

_Chapter One_

Modern Day. Christine is a bartender and performer at the rowdy Coyote Ugly in Las Vegas. Erik is the lonely, brilliant mastermind behind security operations in the city's most massive hotel. What happens when two different souls meet, find common ground and an even stronger bond? EC. Rated M for V,L,SC.

_A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Coyote Ugly, Erik, Christine or any of the other characters in Phantom of the Opera._

OOOOOO

_Two whiskeys, one of them double, and a beer for the asshole with the mohawk and his two buddies_. Christine swore that if one more customer tonight winked at her and announced to the entire front line that he was gonna get her to go home with him she would replace the shots of whiskey with her fist. The doubles too.

Sure she loved her job, but there were just some nights where she was not in the mood to be hit on like that. She wondered where all the cute lines that men usually fed her had disappeared to. Are there just no kind, decent men out there anymore, she thought? That's one of the reasons she liked the weekday evening shifts. On those nights there is and interesting mix of tourists just looking for a good time that did not involve a one night stand with the first young, pretty thing they came across. And Saturday nights were always so damned crowded too, which usually meant that she did not get any more than a five minute break all night.

As soon as Mr. Mohawk paid for his drinks he tried one last attempt to win Christine over with his charming personality.

"C'mon, lemme just buy ya one drink baby." He urged her on a little more. Who wears a mohawk nowadays anyway? It was so 80s.

"No thank you, I'm quite alright. It's just too busy a night here sir, but thanks for the offer. Have a good night," she smiled. She was at least thankful that in two minutes it was time for their third performance so she could sneak to the other end of the bar to take her place.

"Alrighty sweetheart, but after your little number is done, I want you take a shot of Jim Bean, on me," he said as he laid a twenty dollar bill down on the bar and caressed her hand. Well that made four bucks for the shot plus a fourteen dollar tip. She knew she had to take it now for that big of a tip. Bobbi would be pissed at her if she didn't. Never disappoint a customer, she always says. _Whatever_, Christine thought as she nodded at him. She does what the other girls do anyway. Just take it and chase it with a beer, spitting it back discreetly in the beer bottle. They never know and the amount in the tip jar grows, so everybody wins.

"See you after the show," he said as he winked at her again as his buddies blatently stared down her fringed halter.

Tonight she was the Western Vixen- all dolled up in suede and cut-off shorts, sequenced cowboy boots and pigtail braids. Bobbi let the girls go crazy on their outfits. Chrisitne loved how she could buy as many work outfits as she wanted with the bar's money. Everynight she was something different- a new alias to every man's fantasy.

Christine took two more customers before she took her position up on the bar with the rest of the girls. She had a great view of the place, which was already filled and it was only 10:30. Everyone cheered as the five sexy coyotes moved their hips and shook their asses to "Pour Some Sugar On Me", one of the more popular dances among the crowds. Christine really did love this one because for one, she got to pour water on herself to cool down and two, one lucky patron would be "tortured" by the coyotes and have whiskey poured down his throat which was always a favorite pastime for all. Sometimes on the more rowdy nights it would be a paid employee so that the person chosen from the crowd wouldn't try to take anything too far, but tonight the lucky guy was Devin, Bobbi's brother who was in town visiting. Christine absolutely loved Bobbi's brother. Handsome, hilarious and just as amusing to watch up on the bar as herself, she thought of him as one of her best friends and would do anything for him. So much so, that if he were straight she'd ask him to marry her without a second thought.

After she and Becca straddled him and squirted a shot of Jack Daniels down his throat (and stomach), Christine slid her way down Devin's backside and tried to throw him playfully down much to the crowd's delight and cheering. But Devin was too quick and pulled a stunt to get Christine back by pouring bottles of ice-cold water down her and Becca's backs. The girls screamed and Christine chased Devin off the bar only to collapse with laughter after he tripped clumsily on his way out the door. _Well, now we're even_, she thought slyly and blew him a kiss. He caught it and smashed it in his hand, flipping her off as he left.

As soon as they'd finished their performance and Christine had "taken" her shot, the coyotes went back to serving the hundreds of customers that were waiting to get drinks. _It's gonna be a long night,_ she thought as she poured.

OOOOOOOOOOO

After taking inventory, cleaning up, and splitting up the tips, the girls got out of there at around 4:45, a little earlier than usual. Christine was happy since it was rare that they got out before 5am. Taking their usual routine, the five of them left and walked down the street to breakfast at their favorite little diner on the Strip called "The Candy Striper".

"Oh shit, I can't go today," Martie said. "My turn to pick Mike up at the airport. Flight gets in at six." Her husband was a drummer and toured with various rock bands. He got to come home for a few days once every couple of weeks.

"Ah so that's why you were about ninety percent more flirtatious towards me than usual. Built up energy and excitement for your man," Becca laughed.

"Oh you know it babe." She winked and walked ahead. "Hey, good night tonight ladies," she called as she went around the corner. We all waved goodbye and went into the diner.

As she walked through the door, she almost collided with the passing customer- and his coffee. She smiled apologetically at him, and noticed he was wearing an ivory, half mask on his face. _Probably part of a new magician act in Ballys,_ she thought. She also couldn't help but notice that he had the deepest, most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.


End file.
